MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana moved into a first-place tie with Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference by defeating the Bears 55-42 on Saturday night.
The Grizzlies and Bears now have identical 10-3 conference records, and the teams split their season series.
Brian Qvale led Montana (18-7) with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Derek Selvig added 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Devon Beitzel accounted for more than half of Northern Colorado’s scoring with his 22 points. The Bears (14-10) shot 23 percent from the field and made just 3-of-23 3-pointers.
“(Montana) came out and pressured us like we wanted to pressure them,” Northern Colorado coach B.J. Hill said. “They did a good job of pushing us out of our comfort zone, and we didn’t react well and handle that pressure as well as, obviously, we’d like.”
Beitzel was 8-of-17 from the field, while the rest of the Bears were a combined 6-for-43 (14 percent). Northern Colorado missed its first nine shots as Montana jumped to a 10-0 lead.
N. COLORADO (14-10, 10-3 BIG SKY)
Kaba 0-8 3-4 3, Kingman 0-6 0-0 0, Montgomery 1-6 0-0 2, Lloyd 0-4 0-0 0, Beitzel 8-17 4-4 22, Addo 0-3 2-2 2, Garnica 2-6 0-0 5, Unruh 1-2 0-0 2, Proctor 2-8 2-3 6. Totals 14-60 11-13 42.
MONTANA (18-7, 10-3)
Selvig 6-11 3-5 18, Jamar 1-8 2-2 4, Qvale 9-10 4-6 22, Steward 1-3 2-2 4, Stockton 0-2 1-2 1, Cherry 2-6 0-0 4, Wood 0-1 0-0 0, Ward 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 20-44 12-17 55.
Halftime — Montana 35-22. 3-point goals — N. Colorado 3-23 (Beitzel 2-8, Garnica 1-4, Unruh 0-1, Kingman 0-2, Lloyd 0-3, Kaba 0-5), Montana 3-16 (Selvig 3-5, Wood 0-1, Steward 0-1, Stockton 0-2, Cherry 0-3, Jamar 0-4). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — N. Colorado 40 (Proctor 10), Montana 36 (Qvale 13). Assists — N. Colorado 4 (Addo 2), Montana 13 (Selvig 5). Total fouls — N. Colorado 16, Montana 17. Technical — Kaba. A — 6,542.
